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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
I enjoy reading books about people, countries and events that I don't know much about. I knew next nothing about North Korea and found this book fascinating. It is a tragic account of six North Korean defectors. While the writing isn't the best (several times she tells the same story twice or restates things multiple times), she provides a vivid picture of the lives inside North Korea - a rarity it seems in an extremely closed society. The poverty and hopelessness of this people in contrast to their devotion to their leader (brainwashing at its best) is heartbreaking.
I found this book about North Korea absolutely fascinating. I couldn't help but be reminded of some of the dystopian novels I have read recently-- but this is all real. :(
I'm honestly glad I read this book. It's made me thankful for everything I have and it slightly makes me shameful for all of the food I eat and opportunities I have. The book was a quick read and easy to follow.
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
A Real World 1984
Let me get my only criticism out of the way first. There were time I felt that the author got bogged down I minutiae that didn’t add to the story. That slowed my reading down a little. That’s really nitpicking. This was an excellent book! It enraged me. It broke my heart. It even amazed me with the human ability to survive the unsurvivable. This was truly a great job of putting a human face on the every day lives of North Korean’s living in the horror of that place. I will also comment on the amazing prescience of George Orwell’s 1984. He seemed to have predicted life in North Korea years before it was ever conceived.
Let me get my only criticism out of the way first. There were time I felt that the author got bogged down I minutiae that didn’t add to the story. That slowed my reading down a little. That’s really nitpicking. This was an excellent book! It enraged me. It broke my heart. It even amazed me with the human ability to survive the unsurvivable. This was truly a great job of putting a human face on the every day lives of North Korean’s living in the horror of that place. I will also comment on the amazing prescience of George Orwell’s 1984. He seemed to have predicted life in North Korea years before it was ever conceived.
An eye-opening account of life in North Korea in the 1990s-2000s, told as a series of stories from the perspectives of several defectors. Gives a personal touch to living under a repressive regime. Great book.
Great book for anyone who is interested in learning about North Korea. The perspective of an ordinary citizen taught me a lot about North Korea that I hadn't known before. As a reader you are able to observe the change from obedient citizen to questioning citizen and follow each on their escapes to freedom ending in South Korea. There's even a love story included.
Heartbreaking stories about living in an impoverished and extremely oppressed nation. It's extremely well-written, researched, and reads like a gripping novel. We meet a handful of different characters who are gradually introduced, and we are told their stories of their lives in or near the city of Chongjin until they defected.
While it tells the story of North Korea from its beginning to 2008, most of the book is focused on the years of famine (in the 90s and 00s) and describes the desperate and demeaning struggles of these ordinary people trapped in complete isolation from the rest of the world. It is very upsetting, but their courage and inventiveness in the face of so much tragedy is incredible. Although our heroes and heroines all manage to escape to life in freedom in South Korea, their stories are not particularly triumphant, but continue to be marked by guilt and regret.
While it tells the story of North Korea from its beginning to 2008, most of the book is focused on the years of famine (in the 90s and 00s) and describes the desperate and demeaning struggles of these ordinary people trapped in complete isolation from the rest of the world. It is very upsetting, but their courage and inventiveness in the face of so much tragedy is incredible. Although our heroes and heroines all manage to escape to life in freedom in South Korea, their stories are not particularly triumphant, but continue to be marked by guilt and regret.
Really interesting account of live in North Korea. Particularly topical now. I just wish it covered more of the last decade and Kim Jong Un's rule.